The ankle and foot are not the most glamorous part of anyone’s body and not the most exciting area to exercise. There are no fitness DVDs focusing on the ankle such as “Absolute Ankle Workout – Fit in 17 days” that you rush to purchase. No one returns from the gym saying “I had a fantastic ankle workout today!” Yet, it is an important  region to strengthen even if you only do one Absolute Ankle Workout a week. Runners, hikers, golfers, cyclists, tennis players, skiers and even the non-sports enthusiast will benefit from an ankle routine.

Why? Many reasons. One, it is important to maintain the strength in the joints that we stand on all day. Two, the brain receives important information from our ankle joint sensors, called proprioceptors, which tell us what type of surface (grass, concrete, snow, sidewalk, sand, gravel or inclines) we are walking on and assist in keeping our balance on that surface. Training those proprioceptors improves balance. Three, agility in the ankle is important for walking and sports such as tennis. Four, (for the non athletes), you can shop longer without getting tired.

Here are some ways to strengthen your ankles:
HEEL RAISES:  while standing, rise up on your toes and lower your body slowly. Try to do this without holding on to practice balance. If this is easy, try it with only one leg at a time. Do as many repetitions as you can, then rest and repeat it again.

CUSHION BALANCE: place a sofa cushion on the floor and try to balance on one leg while standing on the cushion. Avoid locking the knee on your balancing leg. Strive to balance yourself for sixty seconds on each side. There are balance air discs available for a fun challenge. This is  exercise to do while waiting for water to boil or for your food to cook in the microwave oven.

TOWEL SCRUNCHES: bunch up a hand towel and place it on the floor. Practice spreading your toes, then picking up the towel several times with each foot. This strengthens the muscles on the bottom of your foot and helps with balance.

EXERCISE BANDS: bands of various resistance are used to improve ankle strength. There are four motions to train: dorsiflexion: pulling the foot towards the head, plantar flexion: pointing the foot, eversion: moving the foot to the outside and inversion: moving the foot to the inside.
There are many other exercises but these are some to get you started in the comfort of your home and to help you stay strong on your feet!